I Need a Dollar

"I Need a Dollar" is a song performed by American singer Aloe Blacc, written by Blacc, Leon Michels, Nick Movshon and Jeff Dynamite.^[2]

"I Need a Dollar"
Single by Aloe Blacc
from the album Good Things
Released	16 March 2010^[1]
Recorded	2010
Genre	Soul
Length	4:04^[1]
Label	Stones Throw Records, Sony Music Entertainment UK
Songwriter(s)	Leon Michels, E. Nathaniel Dawkins, Nick Movshon, Jeff Dynamite
Producer(s)	Leon Michels, Jeff Dynamite
Aloe Blacc singles chronology
"Get Down" (2006) "I Need a Dollar" (2010) "Loving You Is Killing Me" (2011)
Music video
"I Need A Dollar" on YouTube "I Need A Dollar" Alternative version on YouTube

It is the intro song for the HBO show How to Make It in America, and was featured as the iTunes Single of the Week.^[3] It also featured in the game Fight Night Champion. Blacc has performed the song live on Later... with Jools Holland, The Graham Norton Show, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and Conan. In April 2011, it was featured in a commercial for Boost Mobile wireless services.

Music video

The standard version of the song has two music videos. The first, released in 2010, was filmed in New York, and features the screen being split in half. The right side shows Blacc singing inside an apartment while the left side shows a man walking through the streets of New York. Once Aloe enters the left side after the line "Maybe it's inside the bottle" and performs at a bar, the song changes to "Life So Hard".

The second, released in 2011, was filmed in and around Las Vegas and was directed by Derek Pike. The video shows Blacc walking alone along a highway in Nevada, and then hitching a ride to Las Vegas, where he finds a dollar coin on the casino floor, uses it to play a slot machine, and wins.

Formats and track listings

UK digital single^[4]

1. "I Need a Dollar" – 4:05
2. "I Need a Dollar" (Radio Mix) – 3:22
3. "I Need a Dollar" (Zinc Remix) – 5:48
4. "I Need a Dollar" (Blue Fear Trance Remix) – 10:49

German digital single^[5]

1. "I Need a Dollar" – 4:02
2. "I Need a Dollar" (Tensnake Remix) – 6:45
3. "I Need a Dollar" (M.Arfmann & Chassy Wezar RMX) – 3:27

Charts

Weekly charts Chart Peak position Australia (ARIA)^[6] 11 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)^[7] 5 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)^[8] 1 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)^[9] 4 Czech Republic (Rádio – Top 100)^[10] 8 Denmark (Tracklisten)^[11] 35 Europe (Hot 100)^[12] 16 France (SNEP)^[13] 52 Germany (Official German Charts)^[14] 4 Hungary (Rádiós Top 40)^[15] 18 Ireland (IRMA)^[16] 2 Israel (Media Forest)^[17] 1 Italy (FIMI)^[18] 16 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)^[19] 20 Netherlands (Single Top 100)^[20] 53 Scotland (OCC)^[21] 2 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)^[22] 5 UK Singles (OCC)^[23] 2 UK Hip Hop/R&B (OCC)^[24] 1

Year-end charts Chart (2010) Position Austrian Singles Chart^[25] 57 Belgian Singles Chart (Flanders)^[26] 18 Belgian Singles Chart (Wallonia)^[27] 55 French Singles Chart^[28] 86 Germany Singles Chart^[29] 86 Swiss Singles Chart^[30] 55 Chart (2011) Position Australian Singles Chart^[31] 64 Irish Singles Chart^[32] 20 Swiss Singles Chart^[33] 61 UK Singles Chart^[34] 18

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)^[35]	2× Platinum	140,000^^
Austria (IFPI Austria)^[36]	Gold	15,000^*
Belgium (BEA)^[37]	Gold	15,000^*
Canada (Music Canada)^[38]	Gold	40,000^‡
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)^[39]	Gold	15,000^^
Germany (BVMI)^[40]	3× Gold	450,000^‡
Italy (FIMI)^[41]	Platinum	50,000^‡
New Zealand (RMNZ)^[42]	Gold	7,500^*
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)^[43]	Platinum	30,000^^
United Kingdom (BPI)^[45]	Platinum	695,210^[44]
Streaming
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)^[46]	Gold	900,000^†
^* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ^‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. ^† Streaming-only figures based on certification alone.

Samples and covers

Various hip-hop artists have sampled "I Need a Dollar" or freestyled over the instrumental, including Yelawolf, T.I., Wax, Dumbfoundead, Chris Webby, MGK, and Mac Miller, and Sammy Adams.

Australian artist Xavier Rudd covered "I Need a Dollar" on 'Like a Version', a segment on the Australian radio station 'Triple J'

British artists Ed Solo and Deekline together remixed "I Need A Dollar" and released it as a single with the same name.^[47]

References

1. "I Need a Dollar". Retrieved 27 January 2011.
2. "I Need a Dollar" (in Dutch). Dutch Charts. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
3. Stanley, Alessandra. TELEVISION REVIEW | 'HOW TO MAKE IT IN AMERICA'; The Dream, Without The Drive. The New York Times. February 12, 2010.
4. "I Need A Dollar". amazon.co.uk.
5. "I Need A Dollar". amazon.de.
6. "Aloe Blacc – I Need a Dollar". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 2011-09-08.
7. "Aloe Blacc – I Need a Dollar" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 2010-01-27.
8. "Aloe Blacc – I Need a Dollar" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 2010-01-27.
9. "Aloe Blacc – I Need a Dollar" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 2010-01-27.
10. "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – RADIO – TOP 100 and insert 201144 into search. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
11. "Aloe Blacc – I Need a Dollar". Tracklisten. Retrieved 2010-01-27.
12. I Need a Dollar - Aloe Blacc. Billboard.
13. "Aloe Blacc – I Need a Dollar" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 2010-05-29.
14. "Aloe Blacc – I Need a Dollar" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
15. "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Rádiós Top 40 játszási lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved 2012-09-12.
16. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – I Need a Dollar". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
17. "Media Forest Week 50, 2010". Israeli Airplay Chart. Media Forest.
18. "Aloe Blacc – I Need a Dollar". Top Digital Download.
19. "Aloe Blacc – I Need a Dollar". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 2011-06-27.
20. "Aloe Blacc – I Need a Dollar" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 2010-01-27.
21. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
22. "Aloe Blacc – I Need a Dollar". Swiss Singles Chart.
23. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
24. "Official Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company.
25. "Jahreshitparade 2010". Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
26. "Ultratop Belgian Charts". ultratop.be. Retrieved 2011-09-25.
27. "Ultratop Belgian Charts". ultratop.be. Retrieved 2011-09-25.
28. "BILAN ECONOMIQUE 2010" (PDF). Retrieved 2011-09-25.
29. . Archived from the original on 2011-12-08. Retrieved 2011-12-29.
30. . swisscharts.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-12. Retrieved 2011-09-25.
31. "Adele's "21" crowned ARIA's highest selling album of 2011 LMFAO takes single honours with "Party Rock Anthem"" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-01-01.
32. "Best of 2011". IRMA. Retrieved September 2, 2018.
33. . hitparade.ch. Archived from the original on 2013-08-15. Retrieved 2012-01-02.
34. "The Top 20 biggest selling singles of 2011 revealed!". Official Charts Company. 2012-01-02.
35. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2011 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association.
36. "Austrian single certifications – Aloe Blacc – I Need a Dollar" (in German). IFPI Austria. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
37. "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – singles 2010". Ultratop. Hung Medien.
38. "Canadian single certifications – Aloe Blacc – I Need a Dollar". Music Canada. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
39. "Danish single certifications – Aloe Blacc – I Need a Dollar". IFPI Danmark.
40. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Aloe Blacc; 'I Need a Dollar')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved November 30, 2023.
41. "Italian single certifications – Aloe Blacc – I Need a Dollar" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved August 16, 2022. Select "2018" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "I Need a Dollar" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli" under "Sezione".
42. "New Zealand single certifications – Aloe Blacc – I Need a Dollar". Recorded Music NZ.
43. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('I Need a Dollar')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
44. Jones, Alan (7 April 2014). "Official Charts Analysis: Kaiser Chiefs almost double previous album's sales to hit No.1". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
45. "British single certifications – Aloe Blacc – I Need a Dollar". British Phonographic Industry.
46. "Danish single certifications – Aloe Blacc – I Need a Dollar". IFPI Danmark.
47. "I Need a Dollar - Single by Deekline & Ed Solo on Apple Music".

External links

• "I Need A Dollar" Music video on YouTube
• "I Need A Dollar" Music video (Alternative version) on YouTube